North Sea Port receives inland container shipping grant

North Sea Port has received a Flemish grant for the ‘Flanders Container Corridor’ for inland shipping. With the grant, the Flemish government wants to improve the intermodal supply of container transport via inland waterways between North Sea Port and Antwerp.

In the ‘Flanders Container Corridor’, Stukwerkers and Danser Benelux have joined forces to bundle container flows in and around the Ghent region. This will create enough volume for several daily departures to and from the port of Antwerp.

The participating terminals will set up regular inland shipping services between maritime terminals and inland terminals located along the same corridor. Smaller volumes will be grouped at a central location to be able to bundle containers to and from the Port of Antwerp-Bruges.

The aim is to improve the reliability of the handling of inland container shipping at maritime wharves and cut waiting times at the port. A more attractive range of inland shipping on offer will contribute to a modal shift from road transport to inland shipping.

Daan Schalck, CEO, North Sea Port: “Currently, 60% of the transport of goods from our port to the hinterland is already done via inland shipping. After all, as North Sea Port, we are actively committed to the modal shift towards sustainable transport via inland shipping. This is why our port region should then be at the intersection of European inland waterways and part of a number of European transport corridors. Yet it is only by working together that we can achieve this shift. And that is exactly what this grant will help to do.”

The grant falls within the framework of the Impulse Program for inland shipping, through which the Flemish government aims to improve the accessibility of Flemish seaports and alleviate the pressure on the road network.

It is a collaboration between the Flemish Department of Mobility and Public Works (MOW), Port of Antwerp-Bruges, North Sea Port and Lantis (the construction manager of the Oosterweel roadworks around Antwerp).

The Flemish Minister of Mobility and Public Works: “These new projects will be in addition to the previously selected 2022 projects. Under this program, the project partners will free up more than 3.5 million euros to further promote the modal shift from road transport to inland shipping as well as increase the range on offer, and improve the reliability of inland container shipping. This cooperation should lead to better functioning of the integral logistics chain to and from the Flemish seaports. We are giving the transport between our Flemish seaports and the inland terminals a boost and creating efficiency gains for companies. The aim is to increase the share of container inland shipping to and from the port of Antwerp to 42% by 2030.”